Opposites Attract, But People Aren't Magnets!
by charlie947
Summary: Thalia and Percy have to come to terms with their feelings for each other - is it hate, friendship, attraction love (or maybe a little of all)? Meanwhile, Kronos may have found the two best weapons to make them change sides just before the prophecy - or to destroy them. Rated R for lemon, swearing and gory action. Read the story, I am not great at summaries. Also, please review.
1. Friction

_Note: Before anyone freaks out, let me tell you stuff I'll be changing to the pre-given canon information:_

_The characters' ages. There will be loads of steamy stuff and it will be weird if they are younger than 16. Also the prophecy will come true for an 18-year-old, not a 16-year-old._

_Demigods can use technology. I never like that in the canon, although I do understand why Mr. Riordan wrote it in._

_Thalia's hair length and skin tone. (In the book she's described as having a 'Mediterranean' skin tone, but I've always pictured her with like really fair skin.) Oh, and she is left-handed. Don't know if that was in the book or not._

_Percy's Camp-Half Blood schedule (probably)._

_And because it is a fan-fiction and the timeline is somewhere where The Titan's Curse should be happening, there will be other changes as well (duuh!)_

_Anyway, I hope these 'HUGE' changes don't ruin the story for you. =) _

* * *

**_- Chapter One -_**

**_Friction_**

**Percy**

Thalia was the most annoying and frustrating person Percy had ever met. She was very private, and stubborn and competitive and no matter how much she'd like to pretend that it wasn't true; everyone in camp knew she used to have a thing with Luke. So of course, the only logical decision for him was to stick around camp to keep an eye on her.

'Hello, earth to Seaweed brain, you are not even trying!' Thalia called him. They were training to sword-fight and Percy had gotten distracted for a moment.

'Yes, I am! And would you stop calling me 'Seaweed brain' - I really hate it.'

'Oh, _oh_, well that's just _perfect_ isn't it? Come on, Jackson, you know better than that; if tell me you hate it, I'll keep doing it just to annoy you! And if _that _is you trying - than I _really_ picked the wrong person to practice with.'

That annoyed Percy so much, he managed to use his anger to beat out the sword out of Thalia's hand and placed his, on her left shoulder right to her throat.

'Fair enough,' she grinned and slowly pushed off the sword with her fingers

'Say it!' Percy commanded.

'Hell no, I never agreed to _that_!'

'_Say_ it!'

'_Fine_,' she puffed. 'I am your _bitch_,' Thalia rolled her eyes.

'Now say it, like you mean it!'

'I am never going to _mean it_, Seaweed brain!' She snorted.

'Fine, I'll take what I can get,' he sighed. 'Dinner?'

'Might as well - I am starving! And just so you know I'll win next time. I am just still a little rusty.'

'Yeah, we'll see.'

'Hey, you'd be rusty too, if you had been a tree for a four years!'

'Yeah, _sure_…'

'Oh, shut the fuck up!' Thalia slapped him at the back of his head.

Percy laughed - that was Thalia's way of showing she's bonded with you. But then Thalia wasn't like most girls. She wasn't like most demigods either. For instance, while pretty much everyone walked around camp in their camp t-shirts - except for most of Aphrodite's children, they usually insisted on wearing their own clothes because bright orange 'didn't look good on anyone' - Thalia was wearing a gory, black t-shirt with a Barbie doll, who had an arrow through her head; black skinny jeans with teared up knees and a leather jacket. She also recently put a blue highlight in her dark black hair. If nothing else, it suited her electric blue eyes.

Eating at Poseidon's table was always lonely and (most nights) Percy hated it, quite a bit. The table was just as big as everyone else's (as per tradition), but because eating with other demigods, who are not your half-siblings was not allowed, Percy was always alone there. It was even worse since Annabeth, his almost-girlfriend had left for school and Tyson his cyclops-half-brother had left to work for his father. His only friend in camp now, was Grover.

Percy looked across to the black-haired girl, who was also had to sit alone as daughter of Zeus. She gave him a reassuring smile for a second and that immediately looked away, pretending she had never even looked at him. That was Thalia, though. She probably didn't want anyone to know that she could be nice at all. She was a scary, fierce warrior and that was the image she was going to sustain in people's heads. Percy hadn't personally seen her in action (not when it was real; not even during the Friday game of Capture the Flag - they have had a few since she came back, but he was geographically far from her at the time); but he had heard all the stories from Annabeth once Thalia was no longer a tree.

Thalia finished eating just a little before Percy - she hadn't been eating a lot since she was back - and she was throwing what was left of her food in the bonfire with the rest of the food sacrificed to the gods. She seemed distracted, looking in the distance and Percy decided it was the best time to catch her off guard - he snuck up on her behind her back and tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

'What the…' Thalia was so surprised she stumbled to the bonfire, burnt her hand, which caused a jerk-reaction and she threw the plate in the air. It turned in the air and grapes and cola to spilled all over her. Percy had to try hard not to laugh as he watched her face go from surprise, to pain, to surprise again, to anxiety in the split second before grapes attacked her from the air and she was covered in sticky Coca-Cola to finally acceptance as she realised she could do nothing about it.

She turned to Percy, looking glazed. She brushed off the cola from her eyes with her fingers (somehow barely smearing her eye-liner) and asked. '_Why_? Why would you do that to me?'

Then Percy couldn't help it anymore and he burst out laughing. 'Sorry. I thought it'd be funny, but I had no idea how _much_.'

Thalia punched him in the shoulder - hard, that caused him to stop laughing. 'You are a _jackass_.'

'Sorry, sorry.' He said, brushing tears off the corners of his eyes. 'Did you burn your hand badly? Let me see.'

'It's just a scratch, you _wimp_, I'll live!' She then looked at the distance again, and Percy finally realised what she was looking at - Hermes's table.

'It's bullcrap,' she said as if she knew what he was thinking. 'They have more people than we can handle, and yet you and I have to sit alone. '

'Yeah,' Percy agreed,.

'I am going to wash my face and take a walk,' Thalia suddenly said. 'See you later, Seaweed brain.'

'See ya'.' Percy answered.

He decided to go send Anabeth another email - she hadn't respond to his last few, and that worried him - and maybe call his mom - they'd never spend that much time apart - until his meal settled and then head to his horse-riding training. Maybe if he saw, Thalia he could ask her to come along - she never said anything about liking or hating horses. When he thought about it, he really didn't know her all that well.

That's what Percy ended up doing. He didn't see Thalia on the way to the stables and he decided to just have some fun. Flying with Blackjack always improved his mood. It was the only flying Percy could do and he was fine with that. The tender fall wind blowing in his clothes and hair felt refreshing as it the whole riding part - it was so much fun.

As the next hour and a half passed almost imperceptibly, Percy finally lowered Blackjack to the earth - both he and the horse felt thirsty. They landed close to the lake and Percy lead the horse, but as he got closer he saw someone there. At first he simply continued - kids hung around the lake all the time (even though Percy didn't expect anyone at this time of the day), no one would be surprised at Percy and his pegasus; but as he got even nearer he realised that the someone he saw was Thalia. And not just that - but she had curled up in a ball - knees to her chest and hands covering her face - damn it all to hell, she was _crying_!

He suddenly stopped. He did not want to go further - not only because it would be super awkward and he was terrible with crying girls; not even because Thalia would most probably kick his ass if he saw her cry (or generally disturbed her) - she did want to pretend she was perfect and incredibly self-sufficient, after all - but mostly because this seemed like a very very private moment that no one was supposed to see. It would be best of Percy left and pretended nothing had happened.

'Let's go' Percy told Blackjack, and patted him comfortingly on the snout. 'There should be some water back in the stables.'

This night, like every other, Percy joined everybody at the singalong around the bonfire. Except, he sat next to Thalia and didn't sing.

'Why are you not singing?' He pushed her lightly with his left shoulder.

'Are you kidding? I am terrible at it! If you ever heard me sing, you'd wish you could go deaf.'

'Well, so am I, but it's never stopped me before,' Percy replied and then sang as loudly as he could.

Thalia looked at him, blinked twice and laughed. 'You are an idiot,' she shook her head.

'Annabeth says the same - that's never stopped me, either.'

'Speaking of - how is she anyway? I barely saw her at all, after I… well, you know.'

'I don't know how she is,' Percy shrugged, trying to act nonchalantly. She has never answered my emails, or texts, or calls and every time I try to Iris-message she is either not there, or barely says three sentences to me.'

'That's strange - I thought that as your girlfriend, she'd want to talk to you more.'

'Annabeth is _not_ my girlfriend.'

'She isn't?' Thalia seemed genuinely surprised.

'Well, there was this… honesty, between you waking up and Kronos's constant plans to destroy us and …' Percy was going to say something about Luke but he stopped himself just in time. 'Well, let's just say that defining our relationship wasn't high on the list of priorities. And of she's show up on Skype or Iris for twenty minutes we could, but I don't know - apparently, I don't mean that much to her.'

'Huh,' Thalia looked at the ground. 'Are you ok?' She looked up again.

'I'll live.' He shrugged and looked away. She didn't say more.

Just before they had to go to sleep, Percy grabbed a bottle of water from what was left from dinner and followed Thalia. He caught her just a little before she entered Zeus's cabin.

'Thalia!' He called, purposefully grabbing the hand that she had burnt a few hours previously.

She groaned and pulled her hand back.

'Well, I just wanted to say good night, but that's…' and before she can answer or react, he grabbed her hand again. There was a red scar on it with the diameter of a golfball. 'Yeah, that's _not_ a scratch!'

'Oh, please, it's just a scar - we have both had worse!' She tried to pull her hand back again, but he was holding tightly onto her wrist.

'Maybe, but that doesn't mean we should stand it, when we don't have to.'

'I'm _fine_, Seaweed brain!'

'You are left-handed, aren't you? So that's the hand you use for - pretty much everything: holding weapons, eating, brushing your teeth… Yeah, I am sure that horrible pain is just a _super_ nice addition to your daily routines.'

'I've lived through worse.'

'I'd don't doubt it, but that's _not_ the point!' _Gods, that girl was frustrating!_ 'You don't always have to be the most perfect at everything without anyone's help, you know!'

'Oh, _please_, you are _full of it_!' ' She snorted and pulled her hand back

'What?'

'Do you think I am blind or dumb or something? That I don't know why you stayed in camp, when I _know_ you go back to school every year? That I haven't noticed how you've been looking at me ever since… You are looking at me with this suspicion, like I would explode, or just straight run off and join… _Kronos_,' Percy noticed how careful she was not to mention Luke's name. 'Tell me that if the places were switched you also wouldn't want be on top of everything - or at least, look like it!'

Percy considered this for a second. 'Yeah, I would. Look, I get it, ok? You and I are the same! But if I have learn something at all is that I usually need someone to tell me when I am being a stubborn idiot. For me, that's usually Annabeth, but since she's not here: _you are being a stubborn idiot_! Now shut the fuck up, and let me help you!'

For a second Percy wasn't sure if Thalia would hit him or not, but she chuckled instead and gave him her hand. 'I guess I am being a little too stubborn.'

He clicked the water bottle with his teeth and spilled some of it on her hand. She winced, but didn't move. Percy imagined Thalia's hand recovering and a few seconds later, the water circled around the red spot and it was turned into a tiny, barely noticeable scar.

'Cool trick. Thanks, Jackson,' she said looking at her hand.

'No big deal,' he shrugged. Little drops of sweat had broken out on his forehead, just below his hairline - healing others was harder than healing himself - but he didn't plan on wiping them in front of Thalia.

She looked him in the eyes. 'Percy?'

'Yeah?'

'You annoy me _a lot_! You are a almost _never_ think before you act; you made me spill my very sticky drink all over myself - I had to redo my entire make-up and you have no idea how hard it is to do that eye-line. I _hate it _when you beat me at things and not just because you make me say _'I'm your bitch_', witch by the way, I am _so_ not. I _hate it_ that you have pretty much had as much experience as I did, because technically I am older. And even though I understand where you are coming from, I _hate _that you don't trust me. And that's not even taking into account that pretty much your entire personality _really_ annoys me. But I guess, you are not _totally_ awful. Like… what you just did was _kind of_ cool and stuff…'

'Thanks, thats's nice,' he chuckled. 'For what is worth, I am not sure I like you most of the time either: you frustrate me; make me angry; constantly provoke me and you hit me like, _all the time_. But I guess you can be nice too.'

'You know, I wouldn't _constantly provoke you_, if you would just listen to me every once in a while. And I wouldn't keep hitting you if you ever took a break from being a huge jackass!'

'Hey, it wasn't _my fault_ that you burnt your hand - what I did was totally innocent! Maybe you wouldn't have gotten hurt if you had a little more balance than a drunk elephant!'

'_What_?! That doesn't even make _sense_, you _moron_!'

'Oh, it makes perfect sense - elephants are heavy and clumsy and when they are drunk, they are even more so! But I guess, I can see how words can't always make sense to you - English was so much different in the _80s_, where you seem to be stuck! You do know that grunge and punk went out of style about that time, right?'

'_Ass_!' Said Thalia indignantly.

'_Bitch_!'

Suddenly Percy and Thalia stopped talking. They were now the only two people left, still outside their cabins and they were standing just a couple of feet from each other, looking into one-another's eyes with angry expressions.

Then, at the same time, they both stepped forward, Percy grabbed Thalia's waist, she grasped the collar of his jacket and their mouths pressed together in a passionate kiss. It was angry, intense, _hot_… and so much more different than the way Percy usually pictured his first make-out session.

Kissing Thalia was primal and real. He pulled her closer, their entire bodies were now pressed together hard, almost painfully. He could feel her breasts squished between them, but she didn't seem to care and he clutched to her even tighter. Thalia ran her hands through his hair and even pulled it slightly, but he didn't mind. Percy placed _his_ hands on her small back as she put _hers_ on his neck. After a couple of minutes, they eventually separated, their lips hurting.

At first none of them said or did anything. Then Thalia smiled fakely. 'Well, good night then.'

Percy nodded, still too stunned to speak. Before his thoughts managed to form into words in his head, she was walking into Zeus's cabin.


	2. Two Is a Party -

_**- Chapter Two -**_

_**Two Is a Party...**_

_**Thalia**_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own Percy Jackson any of the characters in this story, they all belong to Mr. Rick Riordon. I am not making any money off any of this and I wouldn't want to._

_**Note:**__ Alright, here's the next chapter. I was trying to keep it short, but didn't come out the way I wanted it to. It's a little I hope you still like the story. I hope I can do one more before New Year's, but I can't promise anything._

_**Note 2:**__ As of the moment of posting, the story has 31 followers, which is more than I've ever had on anything, ever. I am really glad you like it so much, but my new goal is to reach 50 followers and 20 favourites, so please - tell you friends and pen pals etc. I'd really appreciate it._

_**Important:**__ Also can you guys help me with a nick name Percy may have for Thalia? I want something kind of insulting, but not like horribly mean. Something that can be like an inner joke between the two. I am really bad at nick-names, plus English is my second language, so that makes me even worse. :D_

* * *

Thalia couldn't sleep very well that night. She kept replaying what had happened between her and Percy in her head. She could't remember how they got from fighting and insulting each other, to… well, whatever that was. She had never particularly believed in that love-hate relationship thing was really possible. To her it it was just the 19th century way to justify rape or Hollywood's incredible insight into relationship dynamics and female psyche. '_You hate that guy - well, you must want to sleep with him, then!'_

But what she had with Percy… it was definitely _chemistry_ of some sort. Yes, he usually managed to irritated the hell out of her, but then he also had that cute smile and eyes like the sea and was actually kind of nice. Of course there was the time they kissed, the sensation of his hair between her fingers, his hands on her back, holding her in tight embrace, damn it, they were so close she could feel every part of him - _every_ one!

_No_, Thalia shook her head. Percy likes Annabeth and she was Thalia's friend! Friends don't take each other's boyfriends, or crushes, or whatever. That was the kind of petty, selfish soap-opera-worthy thing, some barbie doll of a girl would do, not Thalia! She was a strong, independent woman who cared more about her friends than having a boyfriend!

But then… ever since Annabeth left for school, she and Thalia had barely spoken. Once in a while, the brunette would get a two-worded text or a generic email, but not much more. And apparently, Percy wasn't speaking with Annabeth either. So what was up with that? Was Annabeth really Thalia's friend as much as she wanted her to be? Old Annabeth; Annabeth from four years ago - sure. But Thalia needed to remind herself she'd been dead to the world for quite some time and things change. Her friend had, apparently.

And then, wasn't Percy her _friend_? She looked at the scar on her hand - sure, she couldn't see it in the darkness, but she knew it was there, as she could still remember the pain - and smiled. _But then - friends don't really do what you two did last night_, Thalia grudgingly reminded herself and tossed angrily on the side. Oh, how she wished the stupid thundering in Zeus' cabin would stop - she was _already_ having trouble falling asleep!

After a lot more tossing and turning, Thalia finally fell into unsay sleep. No demigod dreams, thankfully, but quite a few that were equally disturbing. There was one dream, where Annabeth and Thalia fought each other for some reason and the Athena's daughter, cut off her friend's head and put it on her night stand, telling everyone it was a 'trophy'.

* * *

The next morning Thalia heard the breakfast call, but she just put her blanket over her head and despite her stomach rambling, she decided to skip it. By lunch however she had to force herself to get up, mostly because she was too hungry to resist the idea of food, but also because she probably needed to show up before Chiron decided to organise a search-party.

She spent as much time as possible getting ready, including fixing her eye-line about three times - she wanted to be sure that everyone was at their tables by the time she showed up. When she did, she tried to be inconspicuous as possible, yet she felt like people were starring at her.

_It's nothing new_, she told herself and took a deep breath. _People have been starring at you for weeks. _Of course Percy was between the starers, though to his credit, he tried to do it only when he thought Thalia couldn't see him. Many of Aphrodite's children were starring too. Briefly, Thalia wondered if they could sense love or sex hormones and figure out when someone was making out with someone else's crush.

_Oh, this is stupid,_ she told herself, _stop it, _**_now_**_!_ And then she remembered there must be unmarked Eros's children around as well. She exhaled - this line of thinking would drive her crazy. She needed a distraction, something that would occupy all of her attention. Then she figured it out - volleyball!

That was perfect, there were volleyball games in camp all throughout the lunch and late afternoon to early night hours and winning always improved Thalia's mood, especially if included beating up some of the people who had been judging her and starring at her since day one. Thalia hadn't played volleyball in camp yet. Actually she hadn't played since she was little. After all, being a tree for years, leads you to loose muscle weigh. So at first she was practising and trying to remember everything her muscles seemed to have forgotten - how to fight with her spear, how to use Aegis, unarmed combat, archery, sword-fighting and all those other life-saving abilities a demigod (especially one of her caliber) usually needs.

* * *

After lunch Thalia went back to her cabin to change. She put on her black sports shorts (she was really glad she had waxed her legs a couple of days ago), her t-shirt with a dead cupid on it, her favorite skull necklace, black and magenta sneakers with white Jacks-heads (from the Nightmare before Christmas) drawn on the sides, and she pulled her hair in a ponytail. When she arrived the previous game was already ending.

'Thalia,' a positively glowing girl smiled at her and waved. Her hair, long, lush, black, reaching all the way to her bum, was barely contained by an alice band; she had strikingly deep blue eyes and wore pink eye-make up; her features were fascinating and her body - a dream. She was dressed in pink shorts and a top that was unnecessarily revealing. Thalia almost needed to cover her eyes, not to be blinded by that girl's smile.

'Hi, I am Silena Beauregard, the counsellor for Aphrodite's cabin.' _But of course she was!_ 'I am sorry, I usually just end with 'Silena Beauregard', but I don't think that we've officially met. You are Thalia…?'

'I usually just go with Thalia,' Zeus's daughter said firmly. She hated being asked about her last name. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and it.

'O-key. Are you just here to watch, or are you going to be joining the game?'

'Oh, definitely joining.'

'Cool,' Silena beamed at her. 'Well, next game starts in a few minutes, I am the captain of one of the teams and my boyfriend Charlie - I mean Charlie Beckendorf, the counsellor for Hephaestus's Cabin - over there,' she waved to a handsome dark-skinned boy 'is the captain of the other one. And I _know_ what you are thinking - _playing against each other_? That's _crazy talk!_ A couple should stick together, win or loose, right? But frankly, I think some healthy competition is good for new relationships, keeps the spark going.'

'I was really not thinking any of that,' Thalia said irritatedly, without even looking at Silena '_At all._ To be honest, there is _nothing_ I _ever_ cared less about. Except maybe this moment.'

'So anyone special in _your_ life?' Silena asked still as cheerfully, unaffected by Thalia's sass. Zeus's daughter shot her an evil look - that quickly shut the girl up.

'Wait, Silena - I am playing too!' Percy showed up, winded. 'Sorry, that I am late.'

'Oh, no problem, Percy. Well, I think we now have everyone,' she shouted. There were people nodding all around the court as was wrapping up.

'What are you doing, here?' Thalia hissed at Percy, crossing her arms on her chest. 'Did you _follow_ me?'

'Uh, can you even _be_ more self-important?! FYI, I _always_ play volleyball on Tuesdays - never seen _you_ here, though.'

'I wanted to blow off some steam - without _you_ around!'

'Yeah, I've noticed you have been avoiding me the whole day - I didn't even see you on breakfast.'

'Oh, you get to talk about self-importance! For your information - I did not, _not_ go to breakfast because of you! I didn't go because I was sleepy!'

'You eat like bird, but you haven't seen you miss a meal, _yet_. Then, the day after you kissed me, you suddenly do, because you were 'sleepy'! _Sure_, yeah, I _totally_ buy that!

'_I_ kissed _you_?! You…' But before she could finish, the two were being separated into teams.

'I pick Percy,' Silena's boyfriend called.

'I pick Thalia,' Aphrodite's daughter said.

'_Jackass_,' Thalia muttered under her breath, while heading towards the beaming girl. 'As if I even wanted to…'

'Who's a jackass?' Silena asked cheery, standing next to Thalia while Charlie was picking another teammate. Gods, that cheerfulness was annoying!

'No one,' Zeus's daughter answered quickly - maybe a bit too quickly.

'And when you say, no one, you actually mean Percy, right?'

'What? No, I don't! I mean yes, but… so what?'

'I know he annoys you, it's normal, you are so similar, both born-leaders… you shouldn't let it get you. He is actually a nice guy. And I am sure that you are nice too… maybe, _possibly_.' She glanced at Thalia a bit frightened.

'Is that what you think of him? He's nice guy?'

'Well, we are not that close, but if you really want my opinion… I can tell he is a great guy. He is good looking, smart - obtuse, but still generally smart - heroic… I mean he is not my type, of course - too _raw_ - but Annabeth's a lucky girl. I hope she realizes it.'

'Yeah, sure, Annabeth…'

'Oh,' Silena looked at the punk girl, giggled, than looked ahead again.

'_What_?' Thalia was annoyed.

'Nothing,' the other girl said defensively, waving her arms in front of her. ' I have nothing to say - at all! Please, don't kill me?'

Thalia smirked and patted Silena on the shoulder, as Aphrodite's daughter winced a bit. 'You are fine. For now.'

The teams quickly spread around the court and took their places. Thalia was at the front right corner, just one spot away from the person who served - Silena's sister - something with A - Ana; Alex; Alice… oh, _Ally_. She fixed Percy and narrowed her eyes at him. He just shook his head.

The game started. Ally served a floater and there was some passing the ball around, until Thalia managed to spike the ball and the attempt at a block was finally unsuccessful. Her team rotated and it was her turn to serve. She thought she had an ace, but at the last second Percy blocked it. That was the spirit of the game - a friendly competition between everyone, except for Percy and Thalia - they were leading a _war_.

It was the end, finally when Thalia snapped. She was getting angrier and more frustrated as their passive-aggressive fight continued. Her team was loosing by two points, at 26, while Percy's was at 28 (they were playing to 30). It was the longest passing around of the ball they had seen - it started with Selina as a server, then Charlie blocked, than the Aphrodite boy, then Percy, than Ally, then a boy Thalia learned was named Will, than Thalia again, than someone whose name was Miles or Michael, than a blond Aphrodite girl, Percy, Thalia, Percy, Selina, Charlie, Thalia, Percy - this time she was sure, he was purposefully aiming for her. Her team had formed a block, but Percy had spiked the ball and it hit Zeus's daughter in the face. The ball went up the air as the girl fell down, and just before Percy's team had officially won their point, Thalia burned the damn thing using her electricity powers. What fell on the ground was a blackened, broken, flat piece of fabric.

Everyone looked at her surprised, a bit scared, with a dash of pity in their eyes. Then some started laughing nervously. _Finally, the unstable girl, who everyone one knew was unstable had snapped,_ they must have been thinking.

'Dear gods, Thalia, that was _mad_,' Silena was the first one to speak. 'And kind of awesome. Remind me never to win anything against you,' she offered her her hand.

Thalia looked at Percy - he was trying not break into an uncontrollable fit of laughter. She didn't say anything, just pushed away Selina's hand; got up as quickly as possible; beat the dust out of her clothes, gave one last angry look at Percy and stormed off.

'Oh, come on now, if you act all hurt, it's not funny!' He called after her. '_Thalia_! Thalia, wait!' Percy ran after her.

She was well into the forest, before he managed to grab a hold of her and pull her back.

'Thalia, come on, _stop_.' He was out of breath - she was fast, but it was mostly because he was laughing all the way. She turned around and punched him in the nose - it was painful, but not hard enough to break it or even draw blood.

'_Why_?' His laughter was reduced to snickering now. 'Look, I didn't mean to hit you and you didn't have to be so dramatic about it.'

'_You_…' she looked infuriated. 'You knocked me out on purpose, I know you did! And I didn't _kiss_ you!'

'Are you _serious_? Is _that_ why you were so mad? I was just _messing_ with you.' She tried to hit him again, but he pulled back just in time. 'And I _certainly_ didn't hit you on purpose.'

'Yeah, well you were trying a little too hard to win!'

'Oh, like someone who only spikes and uses their powers to destroy the ball before the game is technically over? Wait; no, _I_ wasn't doing that, because_ I_ am not a_ crazy person._'

'I am _not_ crazy. It wasn't just a game for the two of us, it was, we were…'but she didn't finish. If he really had no idea what she was talking about, it may be too outrageous to say it out loud. Percy would never let it go.

'_I _was playing volleyball, I have no idea, what _you_ were doing!' He grinned at her.

'Oh, I don't know, either!' Thalia sighed and took a deep breath to calm herself down. 'I _am_ being crazy, I am sorry. Truth is, I don't even know why.' She was sincere. 'Sorry for punching you. I know you didn't _actually_ hit me on purpose. It's fine, really, even though I suspect that my face is totally messed-up.'

'No it' not. It's… perfect,' he said, moving a lock of hair out of her face and placing it behind her ear. Then leaned in and kissed her gently. At first, his musky and salty (like the sea) smell overwhelmed her and she let him. Then, a couple of seconds later she got to her senses and pushed him away.

'Wait, no, _stop_.' He pulled back. 'I know why._ Why_ I was being crazy, I mean - it's because of Annabeth. I really don't feel right doing this behind her back.'

'Annabeth is _not_ my girlfriend,' Percy sighed. 'She could've been, but… if she won't even answer her goddamn phone, I don't feel like I owe her anything!'

Thalia stopped for second. 'Maybe, but _I_ do. There's a girl-code and I am breaking it.'

'Girl code?' Percy narrowed his eyes. 'Is that like_ bros before hoes_?'

'Kind of, but it's s_isters before misters_ or if you like the R-rated version - _chicks before dicks_… oh, nevermind that, that's _not the point_. The point is: I can't just make out with her crush whenever I feel like it!'

'Look, you sacrificed your life for her! And at first she was herself and she was here for both of us, but… has she even asked how you were since she left camp?'

'Well… she's been busy!'

'Yeah… she's busy for me too. Look, I don't know, but… if she doesn't even care enough to ask what's going on why should we feel guilty for it?'

'Don't _you_ feel guilty?'

'Well… I don't know - maybe.'

'So then it doesn't feel right - it shouldn't happen again!'

'Yeah, but ever since yesterday, it's all I can think about.'

'Oh, forget it, there's no point!' Thalia cried in exasperation and turned away from him. 'We'll just keep arguing. '

'Wait, you are _giving up_?' Percy laughed. 'How is that going to _solve_ anything? And did you just stomp your leg?! _Really_?! I have not seen anyone above the age of six do that!'

'Oh, shut up, Seaweed Brain! No, you know what - nevermind. Yeah, I am giving up on you, or us, or whatever. I just won't let you bother me. From now on - you do whatever you want, consider me _unaffected_.'

He smirked, his eyes sparkling. 'You know, you are kind of hot, when you act all crazy?'

'Thanks, for proving my point! You know that type of thinking is exactly why feminism hasn't won. You don't even take me seriously. You just think 'Oh, look at the cute little woman, having _feelings_ and such! She's so _adorable_!' Well, no I am _not_, I will not stand here and take that condescending attitude!'

Thalia tried to push him aside, but he caught her wrist and pinned it to the tree just behind her. She tried to pull away, using her other hand, but he was quicker and pinned that one too.

'Yeah, sometimes I don't take you that seriously; like just a few seconds ago - what you said, just made no sense - like _at all_! It wasn't a solution, it wasn't… _anything_. Also, don't put words in my mouth, if you please! I never said 'cute', I said 'hot' - big difference! You are still very, _very_ scary.'

Thalia's heart was beating fast, her breasts heaving with every breath she took. Percy was so close, she could feel his sweet and cool breath on her skin and the heat, radiating from his body. She realised that in this position she was fully at his mercy and despite her clothes, she felt exposed. The notion did something delicious to her - he was taller, stronger, and he had the upper hand, it was all so… _exciting_!

Thalia looked Poseidon's son in the eyes, challenging him to take advantage of the situation - she could tell he wanted to, she could see his eyes carefully follow every movement of her chest. She wanted him to touch her, to make her stop caring about anything else.

He leaned to kiss her and she responded eagerly. Damn, this was even better than the day before! She tried to move closer, to press against him, which was almost impossible due to the position of her hands. She struggled for a few seconds, he just tightened his grip around her wrists. When she realised it was pointless and relaxed her body, fully enjoying the kiss, he grabbed her wrists with only his left hand, still keeping them pinned against the tree and placed his right one on the naked skin just below her waist. He moved it up - slowly it seemed to her, as every inch was making her ache - up her stomach, on the side of her body, his fingers gingerly following the lines of her ribs, until he eventually reached her breasts and cupped one of them above her spots bra. It was just a thin layer of cloth and they could both feel everything. Her nipples hardened quickly.

Percy suddenly stopped kissing her. 'I am sorry,' he said and pulled his hand out of her t-shirt. 'I shouldn't have done that. I am going to let go of you now. _Don't hit me_!'

Thalia nodded and so he did. Once she was free, she took his hand and placed it on her breast, over her top.

'_Shut up_ and touch me!' She commanded.

'O-okey,' Percy answered and obeyed. She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer. Soon his hand was just below her t-shirt again, he freed her boobs from her bra and tugged lightly on her nipple. Thalia moaned quietly in pain, but she still liked it - she even liked it a bit more. She bit his lips lightly and chuckled.

Percy pinned her against the tree with his body. Her hands were on his neck or in his hair as he moved to kissing her neck - slow, tiny, painfully unsatisfying kisses followed all the way from her jaw-line to the bottom of her ear, then down to her shoulder and then up again. They were so tightly pressed against each other, she couldn't touch his stomach, in, but it was all she could think about.

'Take off your t-shirt,' she ordered.

'Ok, ok,' Percy took a couple of steps back and took off his shirt. Damn he was perfectly toned! Looking at his shapely abs; broad shoulders; strong biceps and the brilliant form of his collar-bone it was hard to believe he was just sixteen. It was only his virtually hairless chest, that gave his age, away. Thalia smiled to herself and bit her lip.

'What?' _Percy_ asked, frustrated. 'Something funny, I am missing?'

She shook her head. 'Nothing funny, at all.' She traced her fingers over his shoulders, chest and then placed both of her hands against his abs! Holly hell, they were so hard, you could grade cheese on them. She placed her hands back on his shoulders and pulled herself towards him. She kissed him briefly and then moved towards his neck. She started with slow kisses along his jawline, and then pushed herself on her tiptoes to reach his ear and nibbled on the fleshy part of his ear.

Percy chuckled. 'That tickles, you know.'

She looked at him pointedly. 'I am not done yet! Can you hold me up against the tree?'

'Um, yeah, I am pretty sure I could,' Percy put her up, holding her against the trunk, pressing even closer to her, his hands on her tush. He let her kiss his shoulders and then over and below his collar bone. The fold of it was just perfect, Thalia thought. She traced her fingers over his chest and lingered along his nipples. He shivered slightly and kissed her again. She held on to his shoulders, even sunk her nails into his skin. He moaned gently against her ear, but just kept kissing her. Without breaking the kiss, Percy slowly moved his hands from her bum to her hips and eventually waist, setting her down on stages.

His lips were just behind her ear, as Thalia's hands moved from his hips to the upper button of his jeans and she undid the first button. Her fingers found the upper line of his underwear and she played with it. Percy meanwhile was trying to stretch the neckline of her t-shirt as much as possible, to kiss her along her collar bone.

Then, just as Thalia prepared to undo one more button, they heard a noise. At first it just moved around in the forest - a thumping, flat sound like threes being hit, possibly moved. Thalia dropped her hands to her side and Percy stopped kissing her and leaned against the tree on the palms of his hands, intercepting her escape and ready to continue if it turned out to be nothing. Both of them listened closely for, if the sound would repeat. In a few seconds - it did. This time it was louder, nearer and it was followed by the screams and shrieks of forrest nymphs.

_'Damn it!'_ Percy cursed, leaning against Thalia's cool cheek for a part of the second, before he pulled away. 'Seriously?! _Now_!' He sounded disappointed, but put his t-shirt back on and tensed, ready for battle.

'Yeah,' Thalia replied sarcastically, even though in reality she was just as annoyed that they got disturbed as him - it felt like someone had snatch her ice-cream (that she ate barely a third of). 'Stupid real world! How _dare_ it interfere with us making out! So rude of monsters not to _time_ their attacks!'

Percy didn't answer, just threw a bitter glance in her direction. 'This isn't over,' he said then took his pen out of his pocket which transformed into Riptide, the sword. Thalia followed his example by doing the same with her spear and her shield, Aegis. He took the lead, as they followed the direction of the noise.

'Please, please help us! It's destroying our home!' A frantic forrest spirit, which seemed to show out of nowhere caught Thalia's forearm.

'I will, if you _let go_ of me!' She tried to pull away from the thin green fingers with surprisingly strong grasp. The spirit let go and she urged Percy to move faster. Eventually they saw what was causing the disturbance - it was a cyclops! A ten foot tall cyclops, destroying the woods.

'Percy,' Thalia, said calmly, stopping away from the monster, which was currently being restrained by four nymphs. 'Please, tell me that's your brother and we can just talk to him.'

'Well, he's technically my half-brother, I guess, but it's not Tyson.'

'Well, _fuck_. I guess it's just our luck then, isn't it?. Hey, I knew there were monsters in the woods, but I did not expect _cyclopes_!'

'Well, I don't think they _are_ supposed to be here!' Percy scowled. 'The barrier was fixed when we got the Golden Fleece, how did that cyclo get in?At least… I don't think that cyclopes are supposed to be living in the woods. Man, I am so confused, I wish Annabeth was here! She'd know all of these stuff!'

Thalia's stomach clenched unpleasantly. 'Do you have a plan?' She became super serious, as the monster shook off the nymphs.

'Attack?' He turned to her.

'Well, I guess, it doesn't get more complicated than that. On three?'

Percy nodded and then counted. One, two, three!' Both he and Thalia charged against the monster. But he saw them and they saw something else - a tree! The monster had a 4ft tree, pulled from the ground along with the roots and it lashed with it in their direction.

The two demigods ducked quickly - Percy in some on the left, Thalia on the right. When she looked at him, she saw he had lost his sword. He must've thrown it when the three passed between them. Of course, she knew it would just come back.

'Well, so much for that plan!' The dark-haired girl announced.

'Thank you, Captain obvious!' Percy retired with irony. 'As always - _super_ helpful!'

'Fine then. I have a better plan!'

'Please - share with the class!'

'You attack from the front, distract him, I sneak up towards his back, summon lighting and finish him off!'

'Why do I have to _distract_? You have that shield! That seems like a good distraction.'

'Because I can finish it off with one blast. Can you control the water from here?'

'Not really, the lake's too far away.'

'Then you are the bait! _Go_!' For a minute she thought Percy would start arguing again. But he just sighed, took a deep breath and jumped from his hiding place.

'Hey, ugly face!' He called the cyclops. 'Over here!'

'_Ugly face_?!' Thalia whispered in disbelief under her breath, while trying to sneak up behind the cyclops. The thing roared something about eating him. She turned to look at Percy - damn, he was fast! He knew just when to duck, or jump and he was slowly, but surely progressing towards the thing. Thalia looked ahead again - she couldn't be distracted - it was life or death! She moved quickly and quietly along the threes, trying to avoid crunchy things, but just as she had almost reached her goal, another forrest nymph very close to her shrieked in the sight of a devastated tree

'What the…' Thalia was exasperated. The nature spirit hadn't even noticed the demigoddess, but it didn't matter - the cyclops turned around and he sensed her.

'One more tasty demigod to eat!' '_Perfect_! Eat you all!'

Thalia had no time to summon lighting. She flashed her shield in the cyclops face, which incapacitated him in horrified surprise for a second, fortunately just enough for Percy to attack. _Unfortunately_, the monster turned at the last second and Percy barely managed to stab it just above the hip.

The cyclops roared again and lashed against Poseidon's son so hard, Percy's sword fell out of the his hand and the demigod flew in the air for a terrifying second and hit the closest tree. He didn't seem to be unconscious, be he was certainly hit, his arm, just below his t-shirt's sleeve, bleeding.

Thalia took a deep breath, it was all up to her now. She summoned lightning from the sky, which charged her spear and for a short second she felt the power from her father pass through her body. The wind blew her hair and for the first time, since she was back, she felt _fully_ like herself - strong, confident and ready for any challenge. She attacked.

The monster reached out to hit her, but she jumped out of the way, and before the thing had realised what was happening, she threw her spear at him and it connected with the cyclops's chest! Zeus's daughter saw the electric waves take over him, and yet it didn't seem like it was fully defeated. Thalia used Aegis to hit it just below it's chin and knock it on the ground. The electric shock stopped - but the cyclops was merely unconscious! How strong must he be not to be destroyed by her lighting? It usually took everything on its way, clean out.

Fortunately, just then Percy had gotten to his senses, Riptide in his hand and he stuck in the cyclops chest, before the monster had time or the opportunity to stand up. That turned him to dust.

When she looked at him Thalia saw that Percy's eyes were gleaming with some kind of raw enjoyment. She couldn't help but chuckle.

'That was kind of _fun_, actually!' She wiped off sweat from her forehead. The volleyball game had barely tired her at all - these few minutes were the _real_ work out!

'Yeah, that too, but it was mostly _hot_!' Percy argued, turning Riptide back into a pen and putting it in his pocket. His hair was messed up, his t-shirt clawed s covered in dust and scratches - Thalia had never found him more attractive.

Before she knew it, he was right in front of her, hand in her hair, kissing her passionately. 'You were awesome!' He said after ten seconds of hot, french action. 'It was like you radiated power, it was so _cool_!'

'Thanks, you were pretty badass yourself. Well, except for that gods-awful insult.' She grinned at him.

'It was the first thing that came into my head,' he chuckled too, pushing her shoulder playfully.

'Yeah, well it _sucked_! Let me see your arm, it looks pretty bad.'

'Oh, it's just a scratch, I am fine.' He shrugged away.

'Oh, so my _barely_ burnt hand is a _big deal_, but your _gaping, bleeding _wound is a _scratch_?! You are still high on adrenaline, just let me see!'

'Oh, it's barely _bleeding_!' He replied, looking at his arm. The blood was just a thin streak at this point already drying halfway down. Thalia tore a piece of fabric from his already ruined t-shirt and tied it firmly, just above the wound, to stop the stream.

'We should go to the infirmary - I only have basic knowledge about injuries.'

'It's _just_ a _scratch_, Thalia. I'll drink some ambrosia and I'll be fine. Or… take a shower. But you are right that we should get back to camp - we were here for quite a while.'

Just then they heard different screams and shrieks - this time from camp. Both of them drew their weapons and ran, fast. In a few minutes they were by the gates. It them a while but they realised why all the noise was and it wasn't a monster.

'Well, I guess, you got you got your wish' Thalia stopped cold, turning my spear back into collapsable mace canister and my shield back to a bracelet. 'We should probably go say 'hi'.'

She turned back to Percy, whose sword was also back into a pen. He just kept starring ahead, looking dumbfounded, looking at the gates. Half the camp or so were at the gates - it was a welcoming committee. Annabeth had just come back.

_To Be Continued..._


End file.
